David Panian: Saying thanks is an investment in people

All those who ever expected to read a story about Lenawee County officials debating the propriety of sending Christmas cards, raise your hands.

Yeah, me, neither. Yet there it was last Saturday, a story about county commissioner Cletus Smith criticizing Sheriff Jack Welsh for spending $330 of sheriff’s department — taxpayer — funds on Christmas cards this past holiday season. The commission voted to pay that bill among many others presented to it at a meeting last week, but Smith singled out that line item during the meeting.

My initial reaction was one of disbelief. I just didn’t see why Smith would be critical of Welsh sending Christmas cards to department employees and volunteers and other public safety agencies as a way to thank them for their work during the past year. I mean, who doesn’t like Christmas cards?

Also, $330 isn’t very much. It would pay for about 100 gallons of gas for patrol cars or maybe a new camera for recording crime scenes or perhaps eight cases — 40,000 sheets — of standard copier paper. That’s not nothing, but it really isn’t enough to get worked up over.

Smith told me Thursday that the issue is not whether Welsh should be thanking anyone but if he should spend sheriff’s department funds to do so.

“The principle behind (sending the cards) is a great thing,” Smith said. “I do it myself. I pay for it myself.”

Smith’s larger point is that if the commission approves an expense for one department it will have a hard time turning down a similar expense from others. He said it may be just $330 for the sheriff’s department, but if all 24 county departments spent the same amount it would be $7,920.

“It’s an overall expenditure that needs to not be done,” he said.

Smith also pointed out that sending Christmas cards isn’t Welsh’s only opportunity to thank the department’s employees and volunteers. The department has an awards dinner every year that is paid for with private donations.

I had forgotten about the dinner, and it’s a good point.

Still, I don’t think it’s wrong for the sheriff’s department to send holiday cards with taxpayer money. Not everyone can go to the dinner, and Welsh likely can’t personally express his thanks due to everyone’s varied schedules. Sending the cards ensures that everyone who needs thanking gets the message.

As Kathye Herrera, who has a lot of experience in nonprofit organizations in Lenawee County, said in a letter to the editor in Tuesday’s paper, such notes are an investment.

“Everyone likes to be validated,” Herrera wrote. “It isn’t the amount of money spent but the kindness in letting someone know you appreciate them and realize they are mak­ing a difference.”

Employees and volunteers who feel valued are more likely to stick around, and it’s better for management and customers to have an experienced staff than one that sees a lot of turnover.

If other department heads want to do the same thing, that’s OK, too. Most of them wouldn’t have as long of a mailing list as the sheriff’s department, so the total cost would be less than $7,920. They can even sign the cards, “Thank you, from the people of Lenawee County and (insert department head name here).”

Thanking those who work to maintain an orderly society, whether it’s patrolling our streets or maintaining important records, is a worthwhile expenditure of public funds.

David Panian is The Daily Telegram’s news editor. Contact him at 265-5111, ext. 265, by email at dpanian@lenconnect.com or on Twitter @lenaweepanian.